Touch panel driving device, display device, mobile terminal, computer-readable recording medium having touch panel driver program recorded thereon, and touch panel driving method

• US 9,823,777 B2
• Filed: 08/12/2013
• Issued: 11/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Takayama, Kazuya, Maeda, Kenji, Natsumi, Masayuki, Watanabe, Tatsuo, Sato, Yuichi, Umekida, Tetsuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Boddie, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): ELNAFIA, SAIFELDIN E
• Application Number:
  US14/421,461
• Publication Number:
  US 20150185956A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,562 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3262 Power saving in digitizer or tablet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04184 Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/40 OLEDs integrated with touch screens

Abstract

A touch panel driving device includes: a noise detection section (43) that detects the presence or absence of at least external noise of an input operation performed on a touch panel (30); and a liquid crystal drive parameter setting section (51) that, in a case where the presence of external noise has been detected by the noise detection section (43), executes a process for reducing the external noise by adjusting a cycle or duration of a 1H period.

Claims

1. A touch panel driving device comprising:

a drive control section that controls driving of a touch panel by transmitting a driving signal;

a signal detection section that detects a plurality of output signals that are outputted from coordinates of the touch panel, respectively;

a noise detection section that detects, in accordance with the magnitude of at least one of the plurality of output signals detected by the signal detection section, the presence or absence of at least external noise of an input operation performed on the touch panel;

a noise reduction section that, in a case where the presence of external noise has been detected by the noise detection section, executes a process of reducing the external noise by adjusting a cycle of a horizontal synchronization period of the driving signal; and

an interrupt control section that, in a case where the presence of external noise has been detected by the noise detection section, transmits to the noise reduction section an interrupt signal indicating that the presence of external noise has been detected;

wherein

the drive control section controls the driving of the touch panel to be synchronized with driving of liquid crystals of a liquid crystal display;

the noise reduction section adjusts the cycle of the horizontal synchronization period of the driving signal by changing (i) a driving period of the liquid crystal display, and (ii) a driving period of the touch panel;

upon receiving the interrupt signal from the interrupt control section, the noise reduction section executes the process of reducing the external noise; and

the interrupt control section determines, in accordance with a remaining amount of electricity that a feeding section that supplies a power source is able to feed, whether or not to transmit the interrupt signal to the noise reduction section.

2. The touch panel driving device as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

the noise detection section identifies a cycle of the external noise; and

in accordance with the cycle of the external noise as identified by the noise detection section, the noise reduction section adjusts the cycle of the horizontal synchronization period of the driving signal so that a predetermined amount or more of external noise is not inputted when the signal detection section detects the plurality of output signals.

3. The touch panel driving device as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a storage section in which the cycle of the horizontal synchronization period as adjusted by the noise reduction section when the process for reducing the external noise was executed is stored.

4. A display device comprising:

a touch panel driving device as set forth in claim 1; and

the touch panel.

5. The display device as set forth in claim 4, wherein the display device is a liquid crystal display device that includes the liquid crystal display.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing a touch panel drive program for causing a computer to operate as each of the sections of a touch panel driving device as set forth in claim 1.

7. A touch panel driving method for controlling driving of a touch panel by transmitting a driving signal, comprising:

a signal detecting step of detecting a plurality of output signals that are outputted from coordinates of the touch panel, respectively;

a noise detecting step of detecting, in accordance with the magnitude of at least one of the plurality of output signals detected in the signal detecting step, the presence or absence of at least external noise of an input operation performed on the touch panel;

a noise reducing step of, in a case where the presence of external noise has been detected in the noise detecting step, executing a process of reducing the external noise by adjusting a cycle of a horizontal synchronization period of the driving signal; and

an interrupt control step of, in a case where the presence of external noise has been detected by the noise detecting step, generating and transmitting an interrupt signal indicating that the presence of external noise has been detected;

wherein

the driving of the touch panel is synchronized with driving of liquid crystals of a liquid crystal display;

in the noise reducing step, the cycle of the horizontal synchronization period of the driving signal is adjusted by changing (i) a driving period of the liquid crystal display, and (ii) a driving period of the touch panel;

In response to the interrupt signal generated in the interrupt control step, the noise reducing step executes the process of reducing the external noise; and

the interrupt control step further includes a process of determining, in accordance with a remaining amount of electricity that is able to be fed, whether or not to transmit the interrupt signal.